Referee explains Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers cancellation

Monday's Airtricity Premier League clash between Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians was called off after the referee deemed the Dalymount pitch to be unplayable.

Referee Tomás Connolly is believed to be unhappy with a small area of the pitch beside the penalty spot in one end of the ground.

Connolly said: "The pitch is not safe for players to play on. I’m not an expert on grounds but in the current state it’s not possible to play the match because of player safety."

The referee revealed that he had made the decision to call off the game after holding talks with the groundsman.

"I spoke with the groundsman and he informed me that it takes eight days for sand to bed down but in its current state it was not safe to play on," said Connolly.

A spokesperson for Bohemians stated his belief that the pitch was playable. "We looked at the pitch last Friday and our groundsman worked on it and we were under the impression that it was fine."

The decision to call the game off came 45 minutes before the match was due to take place, with 800 Rovers fans set to travel across the city to see the game.

Opposing managers, Owen Heary and Pat Fenlon, refused to give any comment about the issue but both were equally unhappy.

The match would have been Fenlon’s first Dublin derby against his old side Bohemians since he took over Shamrock Rovers two weeks ago.

The FAI released a statement, confirming the reason for the cancellation which read: "The decision was made by Tomás Connolly, the referee in charge of the fixture, after he inspected the pitch and deemed it unplayable due to repair work that had been carried out inappropriately.